1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to surgical instruments, and more particularly to handles for surgical retractors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Surgical retractors are essential implements for many surgical procedures. During the course of surgery, it is frequently necessary to use a retractor to expose tissue that is normally covered by other tissue. Typically, the covering tissue must be held away from the covered tissue during most or all of a surgery, which might last several hours or more. Spending long hours holding an uncomfortable surgical retractor handle is fatiguing, and such fatigue can be dangerous, considering the critical nature of a surgeon's work. Moreover, it is desirable that a handle for a surgical retractor have some structure for providing increased leverage as compared to a standard, stick-like handle. For these reasons, numerous efforts have been made to provide an improved handle for surgical retractors, yet each such effort prior to the present invention has failed in some way to produce a truly comfortable, non-fatiguing handle that simultaneously provides substantial leverage for a user.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,384,077, issued on May 21, 1968, to William K. Gauthier, describes a retractor device with an adjustable blade. The device of this patent is not intended to be held in the hand of a user, and doing so would be rather uncomfortable. This patent does not show use of cross-bars for comfort and leverage.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,800, issued on Mar. 28, 1972, to James L. Wilbanks, describes a retractor device with a blade adapted for oral surgery. The device of this patent does not show use of cross-bars for comfort and leverage.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,729,006, issued on Apr. 24, 1973, to Joseph R. Wilder et al., describes disposable retractors having rod-shaped handles without cross-bars for comfort and leverage.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,088, issued on Jul. 31, 1973, to William Kohlmann Gauthier, U.S. Pat. No. 3,965,890, issued on Jun. 29, 1976, to William Kohlmann Gauthier, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,741, issued on Mar. 8, 1977, to William Kohlmann Gauthier, describe retraction devices having T-shaped handles. The "cross" of the "T" is defined by projections from an end of a central handle member. The central handle member does not extend beyond these projections, and cannot provide the comfort or leverage provided by the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,838, issued on May 1, 1979, to John R. Crew, describes an S-shaped retractor having a perpendicularly-oriented "heel" or cross-bar that serves as a resting place for the retractor when the retractor is used to pry away the sternum during surgery. The cross-bar in this patent is not held in the hand during use of this retractor, and thus does not add to comfort or leverage in use of this retractor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,633, issued on Oct. 14, 1986, to Arturo Vargas Garcia, describes an oral retractor having a curved handle without cross-bars for comfort and leverage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,657, issued on May 26, 1987, to Yaroslav P. Kulik et al., shows a complicated retractor device that is directed to improved retraction itself, rather than to improved holding of a retractor. There are two narrow projections depending from a central handle portion, but the purpose of these projections is not discussed. Because there are only two of these projections and because these projections are relatively narrow, it cannot provide comfort and leverage comparable to that provided by the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,190, issued on Jun. 6, 1989, to Christian R. Zwick, describes a visceral retractor having a terminal extension that acts as a brace against the arm of a user. While this extension provides additional leverage to a user of the retractor, it does so in a way that prevents adjustment of arm position without affecting position of an attached retractor blade. For this reason, this retractor would likely decrease, rather than increase, comfort during use as compared to retractors having conventional handles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,352, issued on Jun. 19, 1990, to Eugene M. Sullivan, Jr., describes a construction for a retractor handle. The construction is such that a terminal portion can be adjusted from an angle of one-hundred-eighty degrees to an angle of ninety degrees, relative to the rest of the handle. In this way, the position of a user's hand can be varied according to the use of the retractor at a particular time. However, making such adjustment during the course of serious surgery would necessitate loss of valuable time, and the retractor of this patent cannot be configured to provide multiple hand-holds simultaneously. For this reason, this patent does not satisfactorily increase leverage or comfort to a user.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,232, issued on Jul. 30, 1991, to Theodor Lutze et al., describes a retractor with a handle having a terminal hook-shaped member. This hook-shaped member projects from only one side of the handle, and thus cannot provide the same level of leverage and comfort as the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,088, issued on Jan. 14, 1992, to Bruce A. LeVahn, describes a flexible retraction blade and shows a two-membered handle portion. There are no cross-bars on the handle portion for increasing comfort and leverage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,443, issued on Aug. 3, 1993, to Gary E. Leach, describes a urological retractor with a mechanism for inserting a catheter. There is a central portion with a single, perpendicularly oriented handle. With only one such handle, the handle of this patent cannot provide comfort and leverage comparable to that provided by the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,680, issued on Oct. 4, 1994, to Hong I. Jung, describes a surgical retractor having a curved handle member without cross-bars for comfort and leverage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,841, issued on Nov. 15, 1994, to Wesley L. Coker, describes a retractor for spinal surgery. This retractor has a plurality of specially adapted retractor blade members. The blades are connected to an angle arm that has two laterally disposed studs, oriented perpendicularly to the angle arm. These studs are not meant to be held in the hand, but are instead designed to be inserted by threading into a supporting arm connected to a gear mechanism. This patent does not show cross-bars useful for providing comfort or leverage to a user of a retractor.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.